Railroad-rail.



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

WILLIAM H. HAIGHT, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALFTO'ALEXANDER CAMPBELL; OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

RAI LRoAD-RAiL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,845, dated January6, 1903.

Application led March 18, 1901.' Serial No. 51,585. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. HAIGHT, of Minneapolis, Hennepin county,Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroad-Rails,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railroad-rails.

As usually constructed the outer flange or base portion of a rail soonbecomes more or less embedded in the ties on the outside of the track.This may result in part from force exerted on the inner side of the railby lateral pressure of the Wind on a moving train,`.frorn oscillation,orfrom centrifugal force in rounding a curve, or from other causes 5 butWhatever may be the cause it demonstrates that the weight sustained bythe rail is not evenly distributed on the ties and that the bearing orpressure on the rail is not altogether vertical, but rather to the side.Those sections oi' the track Where the rails have a tendency to dig orembed their outer flanges in the ties require constant attention, andeven with the utmost care are the cause of many accidents that arisefrom spreading, turning, or breaking of the rails.

The object, therefore, of my invention is to provide a rail the use ofwhich will prevent spreading of the tracks and turning or breaking ofthe rails, and thus eliminate the most common causes of railroadaccidents.

The invention consists generally in providing a rail wherein the weightsustained thereby will be evenly distributed upon the ties.

Further, the invention consists in various constructions andcombinations, all as hereinafter described, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a vertical section of a rail enivl'oodying my invention. Fig. 2 isa similar vie showing the inclined web. Fig. 3 is a section showing aweb that is slightly curved in cross-section.

In the drawings, Fig. 1, I have shown a section of the lrail havinganinner flange A and a Wider outer flange B,that is extended or projectedfor a considerable distance beyond'the outside of the head of the rail.O is a Web extending vertically from the flanges A and B, comprising thebase of the rail and carrying a head D, that forms the top of the same.

The figures of this drawing are adapted from the rail now in generaluse, the relative sizes of the parts being substantially the same; but Iclaim that the base should be considerably wider With respect to thevother dimensions than the base of the ordinary rail. The inside andupper bearing-surfaces of the top of the rail must necessarily conformto the tread and ange of the car-Wheels, and in this part of my rail Ihave made no substantial departure from the ordinary construction. Thehead of the rail, as shown in the figure, is set in over the innerflange of the base, so that the greater part of the rail-base isextended or expanded on the outer side of the rail. The center of a loadbeing approximately at a point a little above the bottom of the car,perpendicularly to the center of the track, the direct bearing istheoretically ou a line drawn through the' center of the load to theupper inside corner of the rail and should, if extended, pass throughthe center of the base Where it bears upon the tie. These three pointsshould be directly in line; but the center of the railbase can only bedetermined by experiments and 'extended tests. I have found, however,that the relative positions of the head and base of the rail should besuch that even after years of wear the rail should have made uniformdepressions in the ties upon each side of its base. This uniformity ofdepression can be accomplished only by distributing the Weight uniformlyon the ties, and I have been able to attain this desired result byarranging the head or top of the rail so that it will be set in towardthe inner side or flange of the rail-base.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a modification in the arrangement of the web withrespect to .the base and head of the rail which consists these figures,it will be understood that any other suitable construction maybeemployed, if desired.

IOC

The outer corner E of the rail-head is roundl ed to eliminate as much ofthe surplus iron as possible and causing the force or pressure to beexerted on fibers of the iron that are located farther from the surfaceof the head, thereby preventing disintegration resulting from laminationand increasing the durability of the rail. As rails are now usually madethe angles at the points represented by F, Gr, I-I, and I are ratherabrupt or sharp, forming a short turn or corner, at which point the headof the rail frequently splits off from the web or the web becomes in acorresponding manner separated from the base. I have found that manyrailroad accidents are caused by a rail splitting or breaking in thismanner, such accidents being usually referred to as resulting from abroken rail. To eliminate this kind of accident as far as possible andremove these Weak points from the construction of lthe rail, I prefer toprovide wide curves where the plane surface of the web merges into thecurved surface of the head, and these curves are described upon arcs ofdifferent radii, so that the points of the tangents upon each side ofthe web are upon different horizontal planes and are not in consequenceopposite each other, so that there is no definite or distinct line ofcleavage between the web and the head and base, and consequently anystrain or pressure that in the ordinary rail is exerted at some iXedpoint, resulting in breakage and accident, will in my improved rail beevenly distributed and no one point subjected to any undue strain. Inthis connection I may state that the splice-bars or fish-platesconnecting the ends of the rails should be rounded o n the edges wherethey have bearing upon the sides or webs of the rails to the end thatshearing at the end of the rail may be prevented.

By employing a rail constructed substantially as described in theforegoing specification I am able to uniformly distribute the Weight ofthe load upon the base of the rail,

prevent the outer flange or edge from digging into the tie deeper thanthe inner edge, and obviate all possibility of the rail canting orturning on its base. The rounded outer corner E will cause the strain tobe exerted on the fibers that lie deep in the head of the rail andprevent disintegration of the fibers on the surface and the consequentcracking off and wearing at this point of the head. There being` nodefinite dividing-line between the web of the rail and its head andbase, there is consequently no danger of cracking or splitting at theirpoints of union, and hence all accidents resulting from broken railswill be avoided.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentv l. A rail having a web whose surface on both sidesmerges into the surface of the head in wide sweeping curves, the pointsof union between the surfaces of said web and head not being distinct ordefinite or directly 0pposite each other whereby the load on the railwill be evenly distributed and concentration or strain on any one pointwill be avoided, substantially as described.

2. A rail having a web forming an obtuse angle with the inner part ofthe head, and an obtuse angle with the outer flange of the base, theouter part of the head being cut away from the normal T-headsection,substantially as described.

3. A rail having a T-shaped head and an inclined web forming an innerangle with the plane of the head, and an outer angle with the plane ofthe base, both of which angles are greater than a right angle,substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of March,1901.

WILLIAM H. HAIGHT.

In presence of- RICHARD PAUL, M. C. NooNAN.

